


Shance encouter

by koalaoshiz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas Decorating, Hello this is Drunk!Lance and welcome to jackass, Lance has a lot of cats, Lance is a dork, M/M, meet cute/ugly, meeting the other's family, shiro is a dork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:09:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22119937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalaoshiz/pseuds/koalaoshiz
Summary: Meeting someone at 2 in the morning doesn't always end well. But strangely, for Shiro, this was only the beginning of something good.
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Shance encouter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [softeststarboy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softeststarboy/gifts).



> Hello~  
> This is my piece for the shanceholidayexchange of 2019!! I really, truly hope you find it to your liking and that I followed your prompts well enough~  
> I had a lot of fun writing it and am absolutely delighted to gift it to you on this fine day~
> 
> Have a good read!

It was dark when Shiro walked home from an outing with friends, perhaps nearing 2am and passed the small park adjacent to it, where he knew a lot of mothers from the apartment complex liked to let their children free as there were no road to cross and the play area could be easily watched from afar. It wasn’t quite the most responsible thing to do but it wasn’t really his concern.

What was really surprising was to hear voices coming from the play area, kind of loud and unabashed, picking his curiosity. It was unusual it was being used this early in the morning and the last time it had been, if he remembered correctly, it had caused some problems for the apartment building. Police had been involved and a lot of complaints to the landlord made sure there were stricter rules about it and to notify them right away; if the troublemakers were from the apartment complex, they’d be given a strike for misbehavior. For the second strike, a fine and at the third strike, their lease would be over.

To Shiro’s knowledge, only one tenant had to be forced out since the rule had been implemented, and he would be feeling kind of bad if he was the reason someone got a strike.

When he got close enough to the park, Shiro was able to see who the voices: from his point of view, three persons were in the limits of the play area, even though one of them was sitting, clearly watching the other two… bicker? They seemed to be having a squabble of some sort even if he couldn’t quite hear it from where he was. As there was no apparent danger to himself, he decided to observe a little before making a decision. 

Standing a few steps away from the bench where the third person was sitting, he had a clearer view on the two person bickering; one of them he recognized as being a tenant on the floor above his, Keith. He wasn’t a bad kid, perhaps a bit too quick to judge people and with difficulties socializing but it had been enough for Shiro to take him under his wings after Keith had struggled to bring a sofa on his floor and asked him for help.

The other person wasn’t anyone he knew, but he was kind of cute even in his drunken state. He had tan, sharp facial features and beanpole like limbs, making him look thin and kind of vulnerable. Shiro gathered he could take him on a fight easily, if things degenerated. The tan man was gesturing wildly in Keith’s face, apparently about his drunken state that was far more manageable than Keith’s.

“Sorry about the noise.” The third man on the bench said to him, in an apologetic tone. As Shiro glanced towards him and acknowledged his bigger built, he could see he had missed a fourth person in this little event. The person was probably a girl, of the other’s age, but she was sleeping, rolled in a vest twice her size. Probably belonging to the man that just talked to him. “I’m just letting them tire themselves out. If I get them home right now, they’ll just make too much noises and would bother the neighbors.”

“Are they always like that?” Shiro pointed to Keith and the other man, not quite deciding if it was worth knowing seeing how early in the morning it was.

“Kinda? They’re more fired up now because of the alcohol, but they’ve always been pretty competitive.”

“Ah. Keith told me about an annoying guy that claimed to be his rival, I can gather who he’s been talking about, now.”

“You know Keith?” The other man asked, looking kind of surprised. “Oh, I’m Hunk, this is Pidge-” he gestured to the girl sleeping. “And the other idiot over there is Lance.”

“I’m Shiro.” He greeted him, shaking hands and being relieved that his prosthetic didn’t raise any questions, only a curious look. 

“Hunk! Tell Mullet that _I’m_ the less drunk between the both of us!” The now named Lance yelled at his friend from where he was standing, arms crossed over his chest and looking murderously cute. 

“Don’t answer him, Hunk.” Keith huffed, imitating Lance’s body language. “He’s just jealous I can walk straighter than him.”

“As if you’re straight!” Lance yapped, pointing a long, slim finger at him. “That billy Joel haircut is telling the opposite!”

“What’s wrong with my haircut!” Keith cried out, visibly more upset by that remark than anything else before. 

“Everything!” 

“Well, you’re still just jealous. Just give up, you’re drunkerer than me.”

“That word doesn’t exist.” Hunk sighed, too low for both of them to hear it but not for Shiro, who snorted. 

“I’ll prove you I’m not.” Lance declared. “And to do that, in front of you, Hunk and that handsome daddy that just popped out of nowhere, I’ll be doing a cartwheel!” And to top it all off, he shook his hands in front of him, jazz hand style.

“Oh boy.” Hunk sighed again, bringing his hands to his forehead as if he restrained a massive headache. For Shiro, he was trying to keep his composure because he was both complemented and embarrassed while trying not to laugh at Lance’s confidence in himself. He had never been called sigh a thing, and he wasn’t quite sure it was _good_.

“Is it wrong that I’m curious is he is able to do it?” He said with a low voice to Hunk as Lance was making a show of putting aside his vest and giving it to a reluctant looking Keith.

“Nah. Pidge would have recorded if she were awake and Lance usually prides himself for his agility. Even drunk, there’s no way he’s going to hurt himself too badly.”

Well, wasn't that reassuring. Shiro turned his attention back to Lance, who was apparently waiting for it before he _winked at Shiro_ before shifting his body forward, limbs arching graciously as he did a somewhat stable cartwheel before crashing down on the floor, looking miserable.

"Lance?" Keith asked, echoing the worry of the three of them.

“Spinnin'.” Lance groaned, shifting on the floor to lie down properly. “Head spinnin' so fast….”

“Yeah. Because you’re drunk.” Keith sighed before kneeling to help Lance get up.

“No. It’s because the Earth is hating me.” Was Lance’s answer and Shiro heard distinctly Keith’s groan at that and even the eye roll was noticeable.

“Ok drunk people. It’s time to go to bed.” Hunk interrupted any new bright ideas, clapping in his hands like a teacher corralling his students. It seemed effective because neither Lance nor Keith protested as they helped each other walk. Hunk gathered his belongings and took the girl - Pidge - in his arms before marching onward to the apartment building, followed like ducklings by Shiro, Keith and Lance. It wasn’t quite Shiro’s attention to do so, thought but since he was living there too, there was no harm in seeing the four of them off to Keith’s place.

Seeing as Keith’s hands were full of a grumbling Lance, who was still throwing glances towards him whenever his head spinned less, Shiro opened the first door leading to the lobby of the apartment building and led them towards the - thank goodness - functioning elevator. The button to go up was pressed, and they crammed themselves in the tiny space, squishing a bit to fit kind of comfortably.

Keith was the one to push the button to his floor. The ride up wasn’t that awkward if you didn’t count Lance, leaning against him and not so stealthily coping a feel of his abs. Since it made Shiro a bit nervous, he stopped him by pushing his hand away, taken aback by Lance casually weaving his fingers around his, a cheeky smile now on his blushy face.  
It was a first for Shiro, to be so forwardly flirted with by someone who was apparently drunk out of their ass. But he found it cute, in the way Lance couldn’t quite hold his gaze long enough for it all to be effective.

Shiro then proposed to Keith to hold Lance instead, so he could take out his keys and open the door without a hindrance and it was chugging that they made their way to his door, the jingle of keys sounding loudly in the calm hallway.

There’s a moment of swaying as they shuffled inside, before Hunk led Lance to Keith’s guest room, the smaller man begrudgingly letting go of Shiro’s hand.

"Well, I should leave you." Shiro said to Keith, who nodded and drunkenly showed him the door, before waving him goodnight.

It had certainly been a pretty interesting meeting; and while Shiro had been quite happy to see Keith, knowing he had such friends that he could let loose and have fun like that was nice to know. It looked like Shiro had less to worry about Keith’s unsociability, seeing as his two awake friends had been extremely comfortable besides him. Well, that was nice.

The following week, Shiro had barely seen Keith with their work schedule conflicting and how Shiro had taken up more hours at the end of the day to help a coworker. It wasn’t like he really needed to talk to Keith, but it would have been nice to ask for news and to know if he hadn’t had a heavy workload. Despite that, Shiro was assured Keith was in good hands with his other friends.

That is why he went to the park on a Sunday morning to run and use the exercise trail; clad in comfy clothes his breath coming out in white clouds, showing how chilly it was. There would probably be snow in the coming days. But the run, the exercises and his sport jacket was enough to keep him warm.

He had been on his last rep, stretching so his muscles didn’t cramp up when a sudden, unexpected weight stopped him from moving, trying not to jerk away as the weight settled on his left shoulder, a very fluffy tail brushing him under his chin as a resounding purr clued him on who his guest was. Turning his head to the side, he was greeted by the smug, satisfied face of a cat, its eyes closed in bliss as it was making more noise than a motorcycle.

“Oh. Hello there.” The said to the cat, who slightly opened its bright blue eyes to acknowledge him. “Where do you come from?”

“Murrrrrp?” Was his answer as the cat settled more comfortably on his shoulder, the prickling of claws hurting only slightly.

“Where is your owner, pretty?” He asked the cat after petting it a little. There was no way it was a street cat, someone must be taking care of it pretty well since its fur was clean and it was sporting a harness along with what looked like a stunted collar. It meant someone had to have taken it with them in the forest, but even if that was the case, why take off the leash?

It didn’t quite seem to concern the cat to have lost its owner.

Leaning back, Shiro turned towards the trail to see if someone was searching for their pet but there was no one who looked panicked; it was also probable they were further off on the trail. Nevertheless, Shiro began walking towards the inside of the forest, the cat still perched on his shoulder. Seemed like it wasn't going to leave him just yet.

After a few minutes, he spotted someone on a bench reading a book, with a blue leash over their neck that sparkled softly under the light. Shiro was still a few meters away, but he easily recognized Lance, Keith's friend.

The young man truly did leave a strong impression.

The cat seemed to have spotted lance as well as it jumped off his shoulder and trot to him before jumping on his lap, pushing away the book without care. Its collar was matching the leash around Lance’s neck, finally cluing Shiro as to who was its master.

“Oh, Blue, you’re back already? Did you find anything interesting?”

“I’m pretty sure she did.” Shiro answered him on the cat’s behalf, chuckling as Lance jumped a little with a yelp, bothering the cat from his lap.

“Wh- you… Shiro?!” Lance squeaked grabbing the cat to hold it against his chest like an old timely lady.

“Hello Lance. Glad you remember me.” Shiro joked, stopping in front of Lance as to not block him if he ever wanted to leave.

“Well… That’s kinda hard to forget you. But I did have to ask Keith for your name, and he was very amused.”

"I can believe that." Shiro smiled, amused to see Lance pout. He was really cute like that, with the cat pawing at his face and a slight blush on his cheeks. "But trust me when I say I am glad to be able to talk to you when you're sober."

"Well thanks." Lance's voice sounded a bit strangled and it made Shiro chuckle once more. "What brings you here?"

"I was on a morning run, took advantage of the weather being nice. You?"

"Same thing, although it's just for miss Blue here." Lance said, scratching the cats chin.

"Aren't you worried about letting her loose without keeping an eye on her?"

Lance hummed at his question, shuffling to the side to make more room on the bench. Shiro took the invitation with a smile.

"I mean, yeah. It's kind of scary because she wanders off for a bit, and she can be pretty daring at times. But we've been doing this for a few months now, and she always comes back either when I whistle her or around half an hour of wandering about. It's the first time she brings back a human thought. Generally, it's more sticks or pretty leaves."

"I'm glad then. That- she comes back safely." Shiro stammered, not quite sure if Lance wanted to be flirted with right away.

"Yeah. The shelter had told me about her habit but it's true it was kind of nerve wracking letting her go like that. But she needs that kind of trust. She's the only one I take her leash off though. None of the others are as reliable as Blue."

The conversation drifted off after that, both of them sitting on the bench and watching over Blue who was playing with the stones on the trail. It was a comfortable silence that Shiro gladly accepted as he kept glancing over to Lance, who was failing miserably at trying to read his book once more. After a few minutes and the air getting significantly colder, Lance whistled Blue, who stopped playing and mewed back at him as he clipped her leash back on her harness.

"Do you want to go take a drink?" Shiro dared, pleased to see Lance's expression get more embarrassed.

"I'd like to. But I have to get back home and take care of my beats, that's the downside of pets."

Oh, well. That was a shame but that was life.

"Unless…"

"Unless?" Shiro repeated back, hope lighting up inside him.

"You'd accept coming home with me. My abuelita gave me her hot cocoa recipe and I'm very good at it. I also have mini marshmallows."

Shiro hummed again, pondering about it for a bit longer than necessary. It was all so tempting but there was also the soft fear of going too fast.

“Really, what will your cat say about you bringing a stranger home?” He joked, earning himself another laugh from Lance.

“Seeing how smitten Blue is of you, I’d say they would be delighted.” Lance winked at Shiro before clicking his tongue at Blue and leading him away, as if he was a siren whisking Shiro from the mortal realm.

“Well I can’t refuse, now. Wouldn’t want to make this lovely lady sad.” Shiro smiled at Lance, following him out of the park and onto the street, weaving easily around the passersby. At some point during their conversation, Blue hopped once again on Shiro’s shoulder, making Lance laugh softly at that while Shiro grimaced slightly from the claws in his skin. To be more comfortable and civil to the other people walking in the street, Lance put the cat’s leash around Shiro’s neck, telling him it was a real privilege as normally Blue wouldn’t stay on someone, preferring to walk.

After a dozen minutes, they finally reached Lance’s place, a small house in a quiet neighborhood, with a lovingly maintained garden. The house itself was painted in pale blue and white, which seemed to be a recurring theme with Lance; perhaps his favorite color although for the moment, Shiro wasn’t going to make any assumptions.

“What a nice looking place.” He said instead, letting his thoughts out of his mind.

“Thank you. It belonged to one of my uncle, but he had an accident a few years back, so he had to go back to Cuba with my tia and prima. Since I was searching a place at that time, he accepted to give it to me.”

“That’s amazing. I’m kind of jealous, too. At least you don’t have to walk up several flights of stairs when the elevator is broken. Again.”

Lance laughed brightly. “Oh yeah, that must suck. And I don’t know if I ever had survived in an apartment. I know they’re very strict about pets.”

“They are. My landlord is not as harsh as others I’ve heard of but it’s still not allowed. Maybe one small animal and again, it’s not sure.”

Lance walked to the door, taking his keys off his pocket and ringing the doorbell, before unlocking it and bowing at Shiro. “M’lord.” He said with a mischievous smile and Shiro chuckled, accepting the invitation gladly. The interior was nice and warm, he notes as he took down his layers of clothes and his shoes, Blue jumping off his shoulder and onto a platform situated at chest level on the wall. Lance took off the harness, kissing the cat’s head before leading Shiro to the [salon], impatient mewing coming off the room.

“I’m going to present you to the rest of the clique first.” Lance told him with a serious look on his face. “Don’t worry if they aren’t as affectionate as Blue, they’re all shelter rescues and their trust in humans can greatly depends.”

Shiro nodded, carefully watching the decor with its abundance of sea themed trinkets and pictures; he recognized Lance on most of them with different people that was surely his family. There were a lot of people and it was kind of strange to Shiro, who only had his parents and grandparents growing up.

The living room was a really _warm_ place, to Shiro’s opinion. Despite the calm blue color, the mismatched furniture, the colorful blankets, the cat trees and climbing promenade and the various toys scattered around the room, it gave off a very comfortable vibe, filled with stories, laughter and love. Shiro had only set foot in it for a few seconds and it already was his second favorite place in the world.

The perpetrators of the mews became apparent as Blue slithered between their legs to join a pile of cat impatiently waiting for their arrival; her soft gray and white coat was blending with calico, black, stripped and soft brown.

“Shiro, meet the team; you already met Bluebell. She’s a Maine Coon Ragdoll mix and deaf from one ear. Very lovely, very obedient she’s a real lady. The calico is Calla Lily and I believe she has some bengal in her? Explains why she’s always so curious and energetic; she had her own sport room in the house as she absolutely hates the outside. Can chew your fingers if you’re not careful.” The cat in question squeaked, her lithe body a contrast with the other cats, who all have thicker fur. “The striped one is Sweet Pea, an American bobtail. He’s very slow to warm up to people and I’ve sadly rescued pretty traumatized. His assholes past owners had decided it would be more ‘safe’ to get rid of his claws. So like Calla, he tends to bite when stressed or when he thinks he’s in danger. Don’t mind him too much, though.

“The short, orange one is Freesia. He’s a munchkin, and he was the runt of its litter. He grew up very well with proper care and attention, and he _loves_ the attention. A real lap cat. The danger is he’s too cute to wake up and you might want to accept your fate when he begins to sleep on you. Hunk once stayed several hours on one place, keeping himself from going to the bathroom because of that cute devil.” Shiro laughed at the explanation, kneeling to pet Calla and Freesia who were avid of his attention. Sweet Pea had run off on a high platform, observing the situation carefully. The last cat, an extremely large and fluffy specimen, was looking at him calmly from where it was laying down.

“This is the chief of the group.” Lance told him, crossing the room to take the cat in his arms, earning himself a mew of protest. “Zinnia is a pure Maine Coon, but she was born with only three legs, which made her less desirable for adoption. She’s also the first one I took home, Blue coming in second.” And it was true, the black cat was missing his left front paw, which made Shiro smile softly at.

“We’re kinda matching.” He said to Lance, raising his right hand who shone slightly under the light in the room. Lance glanced at it with a quick look and back at the cat; it was refreshing for Shiro to not have someone whose expression turned pitying once they saw his prosthetic.

“You are.” Lance smiled warmly at Shiro, thrusting Zinnia in his arms. “Look at you both, so complementary.” He took his phone out of another pocket - which was amazing in on itself as his pants seemed to be painted on him and didn’t look like it had a lot of pocket space - before snapping a quick photo of Shiro and the cat; it had been too fast for Shiro to react and shy away, yet the smile Lance gave after watching the result made Shiro’s heart beat just a fraction faster. Zinnia was purring in his arms.

“I wasn’t ready.” Shiro complained, earning himself an amused hum from Lance. “I’m serious, I always look ugly when I’m [taken by surprised].” Lance wiggled his eyebrows at Shiro’s sentence, and he could really facepalm because, taken out of context, it sounded really audacious.

“I’m sure I’ll be able to make you look pretty next time.” Lance’s voice felt like a purr and it sent a shiver down Shiro’s spine; he wasn’t even thinking himself as a disaster gay but hell if he wasn’t going down that road with how Lance was ready to flirt and tease him. If Shiro had less of a grip on him, he would have already jumped the shark. But he felt like Lance deserved something slow, something meaningful.

“I’m taking your words on it.” Shiro chuckled before Lance smiled at him again before leaving him in the living room, heading for the kitchen. A hot cocoa had been promised after all.

Their time spent this morning has been great, with Lance regaling Shiro with funny stories about his family, his friends and his cats. Shiro told his own, not seeing how time flew when it was time for him to leave; it felt hard as Lance's home had such an inviting vibe, making Shiro sad for having to get back to his own apartment; the positive point had been when Lance gave him his number and a promise for a date in the near future. It made Shiro feel giddy, something he hadn't felt since his first boyfriend Adam.  
When he went to bed this same night, he was delighted to receive several pictures from Lance of his cats being cute and mischievous.

\-------  
Nyance <3 :  
 _Hey, remember when I told you that my parents had a sliight distrust in me presenting them people as my date?_  
Shiro yawned, looking at his phone. Since they have exchanged numbers a few months ago, their historic had surprisingly filled extremely quickly as they talked regularly, about everything and nothing; principally Lance’s cats but also their daily lives and their previous and future dates. Things were going fast between them, especially for Shiro but it never felt oppressing or too much. He had thought he’d have some reserves since his last relationship didn’t end up great but so far, he had nothing to be worried about.

Me: **I sense you have something to ask of me.**

Nyance <3 : _just a little holiday prank, really_ _you just have to make them believe you, one of my best friend, accepted to be my date for the holidays because you had nothing to do any way and found amusing to be able to irritate homophobic relatives, just, so I can have someone to present to them and have mamà stop asking me to find a significant other_

Me: **You want me to commit fraud? :o** **who are you and what did you do to my Lance?**

Nyance <3 : _stfu I know yu were waiting for a chance after hearing abut my tia lucienne_ _don’t even know why tio Damian married her ass_ _the best thing coming out of it tho is primo Max being gayer than you and making her life a living hell_

Shiro laughed at that, smiling at his phone from where he was laying down on his couch. It was always relaxing, talking to Lance. His presence had the strength of a hurricane and the warmth of an onsen; it was impossible for Shiro to escape feeling more and more whipped up by Lance and more and more difficult to not propose to him on the spot. 

Me: **No one’s gayer than I.** **But it’ll be with pleasure, I really want to eat your mom’s cooking** **Since all you can do is complain about mine.**

Nyance <3: _you have the strange ability to end up with straight up poison, not my fault I care for my life when you’re in the kitchen._

Me: **Wow, it’s not like I do whatever I can to get the money of your life insurance.** **Just accept your fate and eat my pastrami, Lance.**

Nyance <3 : _Can’t believe you want to murder me to get my house._

Me: **Because the cats comes with it.** **It’s the perfect plan. I can just say you choked on it.**

Nyance <3 : _that’s not what I want to choke on ;)_

Me: **Lance…!**

Nyance <3 : _;333333333_

Me: **I want a divorce.**

Nyance <3 : _Shiro nooooooo_  
_Think of The Children!_

Me: **Shiro yes.**  
**I’m taking the heart off your contact name.**

Nyance: _Yur so cruel :(_ _Anyway, let’s meet up at my house at 7 next Tuesday, we’ll have to be early at the airport. Veronica will come pick us up at the airport_ _50/50 chance she sees through us and is onboard_

Me: **Good. She’s my favorite McClain already.**

**Nyance:  
_Never mind, you’re uninvited. Blocked._ Shiro exploded in laughter at that and, with a smbile, continued teasing Lance for a bit before starting to prepare his suitcase for the travel. Along with Lance, several other messages made his phone vibrate, transforming his smile into a smirk. Tuesday couldn't come sooner. **

****

The plane ride itself had been good; Lance had spent the first half of it nervously reminding Shiro of the who is who and what to expect of everyone, while he had fallen asleep quickly on the second half, using Shiro as his personal pillow. Multiple pictures were thus taken and sent to their friends, Shiro receiving pictures of the cats from Lance's friend Allura. (She and Shiro had quickly formed a close friendship, much to Lance's dismay at their highly chaotic hijinks.) 

At the airport Lance jumped in his sister's arms, the two of them laughing like kids as they tried to strangle the other, only stopping when Veronica spotted Shiro as he was watching them with a sly smile. 

"Shiro I presume?" She extended her hand for him to shake. "Lance didn't talk a lot about you." 

"I value my privacy." He answered, feeling lucky his main hand was made in metal because it looked like Vero had an iron grip in it. Overprotective much, huh? 

"I gather. I tried to find pictures of you online via Lance's friend's accounts and there were less than twenty total." 

"Can we do the interrogation in the car? I want to go back home already." Lance pouted as Veronica's attention was not on him anymore. 

"Don't worry little bro, I won't steal your man." She laughed and lead them outside where her car was. An hour filled with the three of them talking went far too quickly as Shiro was appreciating Vero more and more much to Lance's dismay, Shiro's affirmation at his sister truly being his favorite McClain making him pout once again. He was so adorable. 

Meeting the rest of the family felt chaotic in the best way, kids running around and adults talking above one another. It probably should have felt oppressive but everyone was considerate enough not to overcrowd him; his mother making herself in charge of him. 

"I'm glad he found someone like you." She said to Shiro when the chaos slowed a bit and after dragging him to Lance's room while Lance himself was busy dealing with his nieces and nephew. "Lance doesn't quite have difficulties in dating but there was some who weren't as honest as they should have, hurting him." 

"Don't worry ma'am. I'd never be able to hurt him. Breaking his heart is the one thing I am truly afraid of."  
She hummed, patting him on the back before going back downstairs to deal with the rest of the chaos. Shiro took advantage of the calm to rest a little. Everything was going well so far. 

The rest of the evening was spent doing activities with the rest of Lance's family before Shiro was able to steal him for a walk around the neighborhood, hoping the walk would help deal with his stomach. He felt stuffed like a goose as Lance's mom had been adamant in giving him a layer of fat to make him healthier as he "looked way too thin." 

A few days later, Lance and Shiro had been roped into decorating the Christmas tree with the other kids, despite Lance's complaints he was a grown up. It was only due to Shiro's insistence on doing it with him that Lance relented, managing the upper area of the tree while Shiro was helping one of the youngest kid to put colorful ornaments on. 

Yet when he went into the box to get another colorful ball, his hand grabbed one that felt different from the others: it was a bit too heavy to be normal and there was a suspicious indent on it, like it could open. 

"Papà!" Lance cried out after seeing the ornament in Shiro's possession. "I thought you said last year you'd stop renewing your vows with mamà! It's been more than ten years, we get it, you love her!" 

"You can't stop love, mijo." His father replied from the kitchen where he was making cocktails. "You'll understand when you get older!" 

"I can't believe him." Lance grumbled, making his nieces and nephews giggle around them. Shiro joined in too, loving such atmosphere. 

"I think that's cute." He said, playing idly with the ball in his hand. "Your parents are a perfect example of ideal marriage." 

"You just say that because you're a romantic." Lance sighed as Shiro put the ornament on the tree, choosing a branch that was close to eye level. A few moments passed as they worked in organized chaos when Shiro accidentally made Lance's father ornament fall after hitting it with his elbow. 

"Oh no." He said, leaning down to get a grab on it. Fortunately, it wasn't damaged and it didn't open either. 

"You're in luck." Lance sighed in relief, turning to look at the ball too, with Shiro kneeling on the floor. The kids were whispering between them, hiding smiles that Lance wasn't seeing. 

"I really am."Shiro said back, still kneeling but looking fully at Lance. With the light coming from the windows hitting him, he looked ethereal. Unreal. Yet so physically present he left a tsunami in his path. "It's a bit earlier than I wanted but-" 

"Shiro?" Lance blinked, not quite realizing where he was coming from. 

"It's been hard to get everything ready behind your back, with the time zones and how easy it is to make an innocuous comment that ruins everything. The most difficult had been to ship the necessary here without you knowing but I'm finally here, finally able to answer my heart's prayers. 

"When I first met you, you were very drunk, very adorable and you were _barely_ able to do a cartwheel in such state. Then I met you in the park and you took my breath away once again. 

"I felt everything was becoming dull and always the same but you entered my life like a hurricane, turning everything upside down and marking it with your essence; everywhere I turned I could see you, everything I did was whisper your name. 

"You allowed me to enter your life, made each day spent together colorful with your laugh, you stole my breath, you took my heart. It's only fair you have my life now." 

He took a deep breath as Lance blinked away years. He seemed to have finally understood the situation and his eyes swam with happiness and a glint of grouchiness from being hidden such event. 

"Lance McClain, will you marry me? Will you allow me to make you happy every day of your life, to accompany you wherever the wind blows you? To care for you in every way?" 

"Goddammit Shiro." Lance said with a strangled voice. "How could you have done this to me? In my family home, with the ornament my dad used to propose to mamà the first time and every year afterwards." 

"To be honest, it was your mom who insisted I do it like that." He chuckled, taking the hand Lance had handed him to kiss the back of it. 

"It sounds like her." He laughed, tears falling slowly from his eyes. 

"You didn't answer, mijo!" She yelled from the back, inciting some whistles and comments from the other family members. 

"Mamà! Give me a minute!" 

Shiro laughed again as Lance kneeled too, pouting. 

"You're a horrible person, Shiro. Of course, I'd say yes." 

"I'm glad." Shiro kissed him under the cheers of everyone, the kids yelling higher than the rest to be heard. 

"But why am I so horrible?" He still asked Lance, who sat besides him to cuddle under the Christmas tree. The rest of Lance's family was happily moving around the room, talking about the proposal, the loudest voice belonging to Lance's father who was currently retelling the first time he proposed to his wife with this specific ornament. 

**"Blue was supposed to give you your ring, after this holiday."**


End file.
